PokeQuest
by Menno Simons
Summary: Mark is travelling across the Pokemon World and trying to qualify for the Indigo Plateau Tournament. OCs wanted, I'll try to use all the ones I get, but most of them will be small parts.
1. Chapter 1

Mark slung his sturdy leather backpack over his shoulder as he left his home in the suburbs of Viridian City. It was a long walk from there to Pallet Town, where Professor Oak was going to give his new pokemon, so he wanted to leave early.

The sun was just rising over the treetops to the north when Mark arrived at the edge of Route 1. He could hear the songs of the Pidgey in the trees along the roadside, and enjoyed the fresh air.

_I wonder which pokemon the Professor will have this year?_ Mark asked himself, trying to occupy his mind on the tedious hike southward. He passed one trainer and his pokemon, but it was obvious that he wasn't from around the Viridian City area. His only pokemon were Seel and Gloom, both of which couldn't be found anywhere near the City.

"Hey! Are you a pokemon trainer?" the kid called out, and Mark shook his head.

"I will be soon, though. Wanna battle me in a few hours?" Mark replied, anxious for his first battle.

"Nah. I've got no time for noobs." The boy responded before turning and heading north, towards Viridian City.

Ah, well, Mark told himself, and then he sprinted ahead as Pallet Town came into view. The small town was home to about five hundred people, including the famous pokemon researcher Professor Samuel Oak. His lab was at the top of a hill, and was easily the biggest building in town. Mark began the long climb towards the research centre, but by the time he reached the top his breathing was heavy. He noticed that there was a windmill connected to the building, which he presumed was responsible for powering the laboratory.

"Ah, Master Eastward. Glad you could make it here." Came the stiff voice of Oak's lab assistant, whose nametag read Oliver Smite.

"Me too. Where's the Professor?"

"Waiting in the back room. He has several pokemon for you to choose from, and since you're the first one here you get first pick. Now go on."

Mark strolled through the corridors, glancing into rooms to see all the high tech equipment that Oak had in his lab. Finally, he reached the back room and was met by the Professor standing behind a table home to three pokeballs.

"Hello! Do you know which one you want yet, or do you need help deciding?" Oak asked as Mark walked up to him.

"Well, which pokemon do you have?" he questioned, not wanting to rush into such a big decision.

"Well, I've got three, each one a different element." Oak explained, and a projector screen behind him displayed three pictures. The first was of a small, green, dinosaur-like pokemon with a bulb on its back. Underneath it was a label that said its name, type and starting attacks. The pokemon was called Bulbasaur, was a grass type and its attacks were Tackle, Growl, Leech Seed and Vine Whip.

The next was a lizard, its colour was orange and had small but sharp teeth. At the end of its tail was a flame. It was the Fire type and its name was Charmander. Charmander's attacks were Scratch, Growl, Smokescreen and Ember.

The final was a Water type, and it looked like a small blue turtle. Its name was Squirtle, and knew the attacks Tackle, Tail Whip, Bubble and Water Gun.

Mark knew right away which pokemon he wanted. The Bulbasaur looked strong and steady, just then kind of pokemon he wanted.

"I'll take Bulbasaur, please."

Samuel Oak handed him the red and white sphere containing his chosen pokemon, and a leather pouch with a pokeball drawing on the front. "That contains six pokeballs and your official Pokemon Handbook." The Professor explained to him as he almost ran out of the door. Mark couldn't help it. He was just so excited to finally go on his journey.

Mark ran down the hill and found himself back at Route 1 in no time at all. He knew that lots of wild pokemon infested the tall grass between Pallet Town and Viridian City, and he was anxious to increase his party before returning to his hometown.

As Mark made his way up Route 1, he passed several wild pokemon, including Pidgey, Spearow and Rattata. At first he was tempted to attack every one he saw, but he managed to control himself. He wanted pokemon that weren't super common.

Then he remembered what his brother had told him on the phone last night.

_"Remember Mark, always let out your new pokemon right away so it can get used to you."_

He grabbed Bulbasaur's pokeball off of his belt and pressed ion the button in the centre of it. A flash of red energy exploded from the ball and took the form of a Bulbasaur.

"Hey Bulbasaur! How are you doing in there buddy?" Mark asked his new pokemon, and the Bulbasaur growled happily.

"I should probably give you a name, huh?" Mark smiled, and the Bulbasaur nodded its large head. "Um, how about Leafy?"

Bulbasaur shook its head impatiently. Mark thought for a moment, and then he had another name. "How about Spore?"

This time, the Bulbasaur thought to himself for a few moments as well, before nodding his head in agreement.

"You there! I challenge you to a battle!" a boy yelled from behind him, and somebody that looked to be around Mark's age ran up to him. He only had one pokeball on his belt, so there was a good chance he was just a rookie, like Mark.

"Alright. One on one?"

"You got it."

"Fine. C'mon out Spore!" he yelled, and Spore ran out from behind him to face the new trainer. Mark's opponent threw out a Squirtle that didn't look very experienced, so Mark realized he was right. He probably just got that pokemon today.

"Splasher! Attack with Water Gun!" the boy yelled, and a blast of water arced from the Squirtle's mouth towards Spore, who managed to dodge the attack easily.

"Spore! Respond with Vine Whip!" Mark knew that Grass had an advantage over Water, so this attack would probably do maximum damage. Two long vines sprouted from his bulb and smashed into the Squirtle, knocking it over. "Now, Spore! Finish this battle with another Vine Whip!"

The next set of vines only connected with the Squirtle's shell, and barely did any damage. Splasher shot another blast of water, but this time it hit. As Bulbasaur was struggling to recover from the last attack, Splasher blasted a Bubble attack his way, almost finishing Spore off.

"C'mon Spore! Attack with vine Whip again!"

This time the attack was successful. The vines hit on opposite sides of the Squirtle's head, knocking it out.

"Crap… now I don't have a pokemon to keep way the wild ones on the way to Viridian City!" the other boy exclaimed, and he began to cry.

"Aw, well, I guess you can come with me. My pokemon's still ready to fight, after all.

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Giovanni

"So, what's you're name?" Mark questioned his temporary travelling companion on the way north on Route 1.

"Dustin. I'm from Cinnabar Island, but my mom wanted me to go to the mainland to start my journey so I got a ferry to Pallet to receive my pokemon."

"Oh, cool." Then, Mark and Dustin heard a rattling in the bushes and a Sandshrew leapt out from the brush.

"Sweet!" Mark exclaimed, throwing out Spore's pokeball. The Bulbasaur appeared in a brilliant flash of light, followed by an appreciative growl.

"Spore! Get that pokemon!" The Bulbasaur shot several Leech Seeds from his bulb, infecting the pokemon. Then, just as the Sandshrew was trying to pick the seeds out with its claws, Spore levelled him with a Vine Whip to the head. Mark took this opportunity to throw a pokeball, which landed successfully on the pokemon's chest, encasing it completely.

After two seconds a ping resounded from the ball, signalling that the catch was successful. "Way to go, Spore!"

Mark pressed the button on the middle of his pokeball to release the Sandshrew. When it came out, the pokemon walked towards Dustin, who was sitting under a tree, and hopped onto his lap.

"WHAT? That's my pokemon!" Mark cried.

"Yeah, so?" Dustin replied calmly as he rubbed the Sandshrew's stomach.

"Stop it! He'll think that you're his trainer!"

"But he likes me!" Dustin protested.

"I don't care! Now give me back my pokemon or I'll leave you here and you can find your own way to Viridian City. Got that?"

"Let's ask him. What do you think buddy? Me or him." Dustin questioned the Sandshrew, who took a moments deliberation before grabbing onto Dustin's leg.

"Fine. Have fun on your own out here in the wilderness then." Mark muttered.

"But I'm not alone! Now I have Sandshrew."

As Mark walked away, he heard Dustin and Sandshrew talking about nicknames.

As Mark entered the city, he saw a large crowd around the Viridian Gym. He quickly made his way there, and saw a young trainer marching out of the building with an Earth Badge pinned to his hat.

"That's the first person to beat Giovanni in almost a year!" one kid exclaimed, and everyone else seemed to be saying it too.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to beat him too!" Mark told the crowd as he strolled into the massive building made out of clay.

In the middle of the room stood a massive trainer with pokeballs attached to a sash that went around his chest. His face was angry, probably from losing that last match.

"So, you want to battle? Get ready to lose, then!" the leader yelled, tossing out a pokeball containing Graveler. The large pokemon had four arms and was completely made of rock.

"Spore! You have an advantage, so come on out!"

Spore appeared from the ball and let loose a Vine Whip attack, which entangled the rock pokemon's arms. Then, while Graveler was trying to get free, Spore used Leech Seed. The small seeds fell into the holes in Graveler's body and grew tendrils that stretched all over it.

"Graveler! Use Rock Throw!" the leader commanded, and two gigantic rocks landed directly on Spore, knocking him out easily.

_How could I have lost that fast?_ Mark asked himself, incredulous.

"Leave, now. I don't have time to waste with noobs like you." Giovanni told him, sneering. Mark quickly made his way back to the Pokemon Centre to heal his pokemon, and on the way there he saw a line of Pokemon Vendors, with pokeballs all over their stalls. He still had 1500p, so he went to the one with the lowest prices.

"You want to buy a pokemon? For five thousand, I can give you a Porygon! For only two thousand, any of these pokemon on the bottom shelf can be yours! Or, for the low price of 1200p, you can buy any of these pokemon imported specially from Johto!" the man told him quickly.

Mark looked at the pictures of the four 1200p pokemon from Johto. The first one was yellow and fluffy, and it was labelled Mareep.

The second was a small, green spider-like pokemon with a horn on its head. Its label read Spinarak.

The second to last pokemon looked like a teddy bear, and had a white moon shape on its forehead. A Teddiursa.

The final pokemon from Johto was a small, furry, round pokemon with a bushy tail labelled Sentret.

"I'll take the Spinarak, please." Mark told the vendor as he dug a few bills from his pocket. The smiling salesman handed the pokeball over from behind the sheet of glass and Mark continued on towards the Pokemon Centre.

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After handing Spore's pokeball over to the Nurse on duty, Mark sat down in a chair and pulled out his pokedex. Pointing it at Spinarak's pokeball, he pressed the blue 'scan' button.

UKNOWN POKEMON

"Huh?" Mark said, and tried again. Same thing. Then, he saw a poster on the wall of the Centre.

UPDATE YOUR 'DEX, AT THE POKEMON CENTRE

Mark got up and walked to the Nurse. "Can you update my pokedex? I just got a pokemon from Johto, and it can't scan it."

"Sure! Just give it to me!" The nurse replied, smiling. She plugged the pokedex into her computer, and it beeped twice after about a minute.

"There you go!"

"Thanks," he said, walking away. This time, he scanned his new pokeball and it worked.

TEDDIURSA, LITTLE BEAR POKEMON

IT LIKES TO LICK ITS PAWS TO GET WHATEVER HONEY CAN BE FOUND ON THEM.

ATTACKS: SCRATCH, LICK, LEER AND FURY SWIPES.

"Okay, then. Come on out." Mark said as he pressed the release button on the pokeball. The tiny bear pokemon looked up at Mark with its big eyes, and immediately Mark had a nickname for it.

"Do you like the name Bruin?" he asked, and the Teddiursa nodded slowly before licking his paws.

"Alright then, Bruin it is."

Suddenly, a man wearing black with a red 'R' on his shirt walked into the Centre, followed by three gigantic men in the same clothes.

"Team Rocket!" somebody screamed, and the first man pulled a gun out from his belt.

"Anybody moves, and they're dead. Got it?"

The men behind him walked forward and picked up the tray of pokeballs on the counter. After dumping them into a sack they left the building, but nobody dared to move.

"Groawr!" a pokemon roared, and the crowd in the Cnetre saw three cops (and a police Growlithe responsible for the roar) pointing guns at the Rockets.

The leader dropped his own weapon, and the enforcers handed over the bag of pokeballs. Just as they were about to be loaded up into the police wagon, however, a Graveler rolled into the vehicle and it fell over. As the Rockets ran away, Graveler blocked the gunshots.

A flash of crimson energy later, and the Graveler was gone. It was in someone's pokeball.

"What happened here?" A man asked, and it turned out to be Giovanni.  
The gym leader questioned Officer Jenny, and Nurse Joy retrieved the bag of pokeballs to return to their trainers.

Mark quickly got Spore back and headed north, towards the forest. It was already getting late, and he wanted to be there by nightfall.


	3. Cody, ExRocket

Mark wandered through the woods, looking for wild pokemon. Spore was still resting in his pokeball from the battle with Giovanni, but Bruin was walking behind Mark. They'd slept on the forest floor last night, and now it was just after dawn.

Then, Mark heard a thump, and turned around to see somebody punching a tree. _It's that Rocket from before! One of the enforcers, _Mark realized. He wasn't in his uniform, though.

"Stop right there, or my pokemon will hurt you, Rocket." Mark told the criminal, who just turned to look at him.

"I'm not a Rocket. Not anymore."

"I saw you at the Centre!" Mark yelled.

"Yeah, but Julian needed someone to blame for messing up the job, and he blamed me."

"You mean he kicked you out?"

"Yeah." He paused. "Why am I telling you this anyway? You'll probably just rat me out."

"No I won't. You're not a Rocket anymore, and you never actually stole anything, you just tried to is all. So you're not doing anything wrong! Right?"

"Y'know, you're all right, kid. Name's Cody." The former Rocket told him, holding out his hand. Mark shook it.

"Where're you headed now?" Mark asked him.

"I don't actually know. Say, do you think maybe I could go with you?"

"Aren't you kind of, well, old for pokemon training?" Mark questioned.

"Nah. I'm only fifteen. What're you, ten?"

"Eleven. I only got my pokemon now though cause where I used to live you had to be twelve. So now that I moved to Viridian, I got my pokemon the first starting day."

"Where did you used to live?" Cody questioned back.

"Cyan City. It's on an island off of Hoenn."

"Oh."

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Mark was still wary about travelling with a former Rocket, so Spore and Bruin walked outside of their pokeballs in case Cody decided to make any sudden moves.

Mark and Cody saw a Pinsir emerge from the bushes behind them, but before Mark could battle it Cody threw out a pokeball of his own. It contained a large, black and grey dog-like pokemon.

"Shredder, use Take-Down!" Cody yelled, and his pokemon dove at the Pinsir, knocking it over. Then it began to bite it with its large jaws, and green blood began to pour out of the Pinsir's wounds.

Cody tooled a Greatball at the Pinsir, which encased it perfectly. The battle was over.

"What pokemon was that?" Mark asked his new companion.

"Mightyena. Or did you mean the Pinsir?"

"No, I meant the dog. Mightyena?" Mark repeated to see if he'd gotten it right.

"Yeah. I finally caught a pokemon! I know it's not that hard or anything, but working for Team Rocket doesn't leave much time to be a trainer."

Cody pulled a Full Restore from his backpack and sprayed it through the treatment hole in the pokeball, healing his new Pinsir.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Mark asked.

"Sure, why not?" Cody replied.

"How did you end up in Team Rocket? I mean, it's just that you don't act like Rockets usually do."

"Not everything in this world is in plain black and white. Bad people can do good things, or bad things for good reasons. And good people can do bad things, or good things for bad reasons. I did bad things for good reasons, and that's all I'm going to say for now. Maybe when I know you better, I'll say more. But not now."

"Listen, I don't think I want to travel with someone who keeps secrets from me. Especially someone who used to be a criminal." Mark told him, angrily.

Cody just glared at him. "Then maybe I should leave."

"No, no, it's fine, I guess." Mark sighed.

"Good."

As the sun set over the tops of the trees, Cody and Mark began to set up camp. Mark's blonde hair was greasy and wet with sweat from the long jog that day, so after setting up a place to sleep he went to bathe in the river.

As he was getting back out after a long bath, he saw a boy and a girl battling on the riverside. He quickly got dressed and went to watch. He loved to battle, but watching was almost as good. And maybe they'd even let him battle winner.

"Charmander, Smokescreen." The boy told his orange pokemon. The Charmander shot a stream of black smoke at its opponent, a white bird like pokemon with a long beak and blue stripes on its wings. Then, the bird shot an arc of water at the boy's Charmander, and just narrowly missed putting out its tail fire.

"Charmander, return." The boy said, and a flash of energy absorbed it into its pokeball. Then he threw out a second ball, this one containing a orange fish with yellow hairs on it.

"Wingull, use Water Gun on that Magikarp!" The girl commanded her pokemon.

"Magikarp, get under the water, now!" The boy yelled, and his pokemon dove into the river. The Supersonic waves couldn't penetrate the water and had no effect. Then, the Magikarp resurfaced and slammed into the Wingull, knocking it to the ground.

"Good job! Now, finish it off by pushing it into the river!" The boy told his Magikarp, and soon the Wingull was flapping around in the water. The girl was forced to call it back, and the battle was over.

"Good battle." They said to each other. Then the girl handed over some money and walked away.

"Hey! Wanna battle?" The boy asked Mark, spotting him for the first time. "My Charmander's still in good condition, he was just outmatched by that water-type."

"Sure!" Mark replied. He knew that the Charmander would scorch Spore in battle, so he threw out Bruin's pokeball.

"Alright Bruin, I realize you've never fought a trainer before, but try hard, okay?" Mark told his pokemon. Then, as Charmander was about to shoot an Ember attack, Bruin scratched it with his long claws.

"Good job. Now, Fury Swipes." Mark instructed. Bruin threw himself at Charmander with fervour and cut it up good.

"Charmander, use Flamethrower!" The boy commanded, and a large blast of fire shot out from its tail. Bruin was knocked out, and the battle was over.

"Why don't you use your second pokemon?" the boy questioned as he received Mark's money.

"He's a Bulbasaur, and your Charmander would've massacred him."

"Okay, fine. My name's Joseph by the way." The boy told him, and held out his hand to shake.

The two boys talked for a while, and then Mark invited Joseph to come to his camp.

When they reached it though, they were terribly surprised.

"I'm sorry, Mark. I didn't have a choice." Cody told him, and then Mark and Joseph both felt a severe pain in their stomachs before falling to the ground. The last thing they saw was Julian, the leader of the Rockets back in Viridian.


	4. Awakening

Mark and Joseph woke up tied to a tree by where Mark and Cody's camp had been earlier in the day. Both of their belts, along with their pokeballs, were lying on the ground in front of them.

Mark saw four members of Team Rocket, including the three from Viridian City and one that he didn't know. Cody was also there, but he wasn't wearing a Rocket uniform.

The leader from back at Viridian City left soon after they awoke, as did the two enforcers that were there too.

"You two keep an eye on them, and maybe Cody can come back." The leader told them as he left. Cody released Shredder and Pinsir, and the unknown Rocket pulled a gun from his belt.

"Alright, Cody. So now I know why you joined Team Rocket. Because they're the only people who come close to being as cowardly, backstabbing, and cruel as you." Mark spat after the leader had left.

Cody didn't say anything, but he definitely looked hurt. The other Rocket, who was large and muscular glanced at Cody for a response, and when he didn't give one, the Rocket left to go sit by the fire.

"You don't know anything about me. How dare you presume to judge me?" Cody replied once his partner was out of earshot.

"I know that you're a lying criminal. What more is there?"

Cody didn't answer, but he left in disgust to join his partner, Shredder and Pinsir following behind.

Then Joseph made his move. He stuck his hand into his shoe and pulled out a small, flat knife that he must have been keeping there. He quickly cut his bonds and reached the pokeballs on the ground in front of him.

"How do you expect to get out of here with them watching?" Mark whispered.

"Does your Bulbasaur know Sleep Powder?"

"I think so." Mark told him, and then reached for Spore's pokeball. After fastening his belt to his waist and slinging his pack over his shoulder he threw the pokeball and gave the command.

"Spore! Use Sleep Powder now!" He cried.

Shredder and Pinsir got up to fight, but were quickly put to sleep by the small purple flakes. Cody fell a second after, and the Rocket was asleep just before he'd pulled his gun back out of his belt.

"Let's go!" Joseph told his fellow captive, but Mark wanted to do something first. He took Pinsir and Shredder's pokeballs off of Cody and returned the pokemon, then set them on the ground. He proceeded to tie up the Rockets to the tree just as they'd been tied, and then he left.

"Where should we go now?" Joseph asked Mark as they ran down the forest path.

"I just know that I want to go somewhere where there are no Team Rocket members." Mark answered.

They headed in a random direction until the trees began to become sparse. Joseph spotted a sign that read ROUTE 01, VIRIDIAN FOREST-PALLET TOWN.

"How about Hoenn?" Joseph asked, smiling.

"You mean leave the country? Without telling anybody?"

"We'd call home once we reached port in Hoenn. I hear that they've got an up and coming pokemon league, and they definitely don't have any Rockets."

"I'd have to think about it. I mean, that's a pretty major decision." Mark responded, his mind working hard on the situation at hand.

"This may or may not effect your decision, since we've just met, but I'm definitely going to Hoenn. I mean, we were just hogtied and held captive by dangerous criminals!" Joseph explained as he made his way to the port in Pallet Town. The small settlement had had a population explosion recently, and a small seaport had been built along the coast.

Mark decided to think on it some more. It sounded like a good idea, but he'd like to ask his parents first. However, he couldn't risk going along Route 01 again, not with Team Rocket all over.

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Joseph boarded a small ship christened the SS Moltres after buying a last minute ticket from a customs officer. It was too bad that Mark wasn't coming, because even though they'd only just met, he felt like he shared something with him.

He felt his stomach lurch as the SS Moltres left port and got out to open sea. Even with its powerful motors it would take the ship about a week to reach Slateport City. Joseph looked out onto the ocean from the deck, enjoying the salty air.

"Hey Joseph!" a familiar voice called out, and Joseph was surprised to see Mark standing on board, Spore and Bruin beside him.

"You came!" Joseph exclaimed, happy that somebody he knew was going to accompany him on his journey to a new country.

"Yeah, it was a hard decision, but I think I made the right choice. I used Professor Oak's phone to call my parents, but they weren't in so I just left a message. I didn't mention about Team Rocket though, I wouldn't want them to worry."

The two boys talked on the deck for about an hour before heading back to their cabins below deck.

As Mark walked down the stairs, he saw a small arena where two pokemon were battling. Interested, he went to see what was going on.

A Pidgey and Geodude were battling, and it looked like the flying-type had the upper hand. Its trainer kept telling it to use Gust attack, which seemed to be working quite well.

Then the Geodude's trainer called back his pokemon and tossed out a second ball, which opened up to release a large pokemon with a jagged tail. Raichu.

"Raichu, use Thunderbolt!" The trainer commanded, and a blast of electricity arced out from the Raichu's cheeks, hitting Pidgey straight on and knocking it out.

The small crowd around the battle cheered, and Mark was amazed by that display of power. As the embarrassed Pidgey trainer handed over his money, his opponent left quickly, his Raichu toddling along behind him.

After that display, Mark realized that the battlers here were out of his league, so instead of waiting around for a chance to fight, he continued going towards his room.

"Hey, kid. Wanna trade?" A girl asked him, looking at Bruin who was still out of his pokeball. "I'll give you my Totodile for your Teddiursa."

"Totodile? What's that?" Mark asked, having never heard of that pokemon before.

"It was my starter pokemon that I got from Professor Elm. I really prefer cute pokemon to tough ones, so I've been looking to trade it for quite some time."

"Oh! This is from Johto. But still, I don't know if I should trade for your starter, I mean, don't trainers usually have a special bond with their starter?" Mark asked. He really wanted the pokemon, but he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do.

"Well, if you don't want to trade for the Totodile, how about this Dustox? It was really cute when it was a Wurmple, but now all it's good for is battling."

"A Dustox? Sure!" Mark exclaimed. Bruin was all right, but he'd heard of Dustox before. It was one of the few Hoenn pokemon he knew about. Mark knew that it used Psychic attacks, plus it would be good to have a local pokemon when he reached Hoenn.

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The rest of the week passed without anything out of the ordinary happening, but the day that the SS Moltres was supposed to dock at Slateport, none of the crew could see any cities at all. They just saw a large expanse of plains, with several herds of pokemon grazing it.

**"All right everyone, it looks like we made a mistake in our calculations. We're currently four hours south of Slateport, but we won't be able to turn around for a few hours. So, any trainers who want to go test their luck against some of the biggest pokemon in the world will be allowed to go to go to the land, as long as you're back by six."** A voice explained over the intercom.

Mark definitely wanted to go to shore and catch some pokemon, so he went up to the deck to see if he could catch a ride on anyone's water pokemon.

"Hey, Mark you heading to the mainland?" Joseph called, and Mark turned to see him about to jump off of the ship and on to a Lapras.

"Is that yours?" Mark asked, incredulous.

"Well, not really. It's my dad's. He sent it here via PC for me to use until I've got some more pokemon." Joseph explained.

"But, a Lapras? Those are pretty rare and quite strong, too. I just can't believe it."

"You coming or not?" Joseph called from the Lapras.

"You bet." Mark replied, jumping down from the boat.

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When they finally reached land, Mark and Joseph clambered up the seashore and onto the grassy plains that were being grazed by a herd of Tauros.

"I've got to catch one of those!" Mark exclaimed, and he quickly ran towards the nearest one.

"Stop!" Joseph yelled. "Those things are tough! If you absolutely have to catch one, try and get one of the stragglers. If you attack one in the middle of the herd they might all gang up on you."

"Okay, fine. I'll try that one then." Mark said, pointing to a Tauros lying down on the far edge of the herd. "Dustox, Spore, let's get ready to battle, okay?"

Dustox flew towards the straggler and let loose a flurry of flakes that temporarily paralysed it. Then, Spore unleashed tow powerful vines that crashed into it, dealing it an average amount of damage.

Once again Dustox attacked, but this time it used a Psychic attack. His eyes began to glow, and suddenly the Tauros shuddered violently, then snapped out of paralysis. Spore was sent fling by a powerful Horn Attack, and Dustox would have been next if it hadn't dodged the attack just in time.

"Alright, Dustox, use Confusion again!" Mark commanded after calling back Spore. Sweat was pouring sown his face from this intense battle, but he wasn't going to give up. The Tauros shuddered terribly again, but this time it turned around and used Horn Attack again, cutting open Dustox' thorax.

"Spore, I need you to help out again!" Mark commanded as he tossed out his Bulbasaur's pokeball. This battle was turning out to be too much for him to handle, but he wasn't going to give up. No way.

"Mark! Can't you see that this Tauros might kill your pokemon?" Joseph screamed, and then he tried to stop Spore by jumping on it. However, the Bulbasaur dodged and Joseph fell to the ground.

"I'm not giving up, Joseph." Mark yelled back, and gave another command to his pokemon.

"Dustox, use Confusion. And while it's down, Spore can attack it with Vine Whip!"

The Dustox's eyes glowed again, and as the Tauros began to twitch, Spore's bulb shot out two vines that slammed it to the ground. Before it could struggle back up, though, Mark tossed an empty Greatball at it that encased the wild pokemon completely. He waited for the pokemon to burst out, but it didn't. Mark had caught the Tauros!

He and Joseph walked back to shore slowly, and Joseph was clearly disappointed in Mark. "You may have won, but your pokemon are seriously hurt. When are you going to learn when to draw the line?"

"I don't know, but it worked, didn't it?" Mark chuckled.

"I guess, but next time it might not." Joseph replied.

The two trainers reached the ship a few minutes before it set sail again, and they were off, soon to be in Hoenn. Mark was happy to have a new pokemon, and all three of them were now in the hands of the Nurse on board the ship.


	5. The End

A/N: This story wasn't too good, I made some beginner mistakes and I should've known better. I'll be working on a new story, but please PM me your OCs and I'll try to work them in. Also, Joseph will be in this new story, and maybe Mark.


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